Can You Forget?
by xXMoonyeenXx
Summary: A girl and her mom leave a violent background but can the girl get over her past and learn that not all love is the same? Rated M to be safe, but most likely will be T
1. Breaking Inside

I don't want to live  
To waste another day  
Underneath the shadow of mistakes I made  
Cause I feel like I'm breaking inside  
I don't want to fall and say I lost it all  
'Cause baby there's a part of me to hit the wall  
Leaving pieces of me behind  
And I feel like I'm breaking inside

Breaking Inside - Shinedown

* * *

In North Carolina there is a small town. This small town has nothing going for it except that it's high school football team has successfully won the championship three times. On one side is a dense, dark and mysterious forest that tails off on top of a cliff which in turn plummets straight down to the sea. There is one road into the town and one road out, okay so that part may not be completely accurate but you get the picture. It is a typical small town in that everyone knows everyone else and nothing goes unnoticed by someone in the town. The name of this town is unimportant, what is important is that it is made up of numerous archetypal streets but our story focuses on one in particular. Now upon this street there are ten houses, all of which stand within a plot of their own. One house in particular is of interest to this particular story.

From the outside the house looks like every other upon the street, it is a two storey house with an azalea lined drive leading up to the single garage. Parked on the driveway is a two year old, dark blue Ford, as well as a four year old Volvo parked in the street. If we ignore the garage and the cars and proceed directly to the white wooden front door which will swing open easily at the slightest touch we enter the house which is as normal on the inside as it is on the outside. Listening carefully we can hear the sound of raised voices coming from one of the rooms downstairs, however these voices are not the focus of the story, that lies up the wooden stairs.

Moving slowly up the stairs, avoiding the third one which creaks, we come to a typical second storey. There are three doors off the hallway, the first which is closed leads to the master bedroom, this room we can bypass and continuing on down the hall we pass the ajar door of the bathroom and come to a halt in front of the only other door. This door is closed and locked from the inside but as our tale concerns the occupant of the room we can enter the room unobstructed.

Upon entering the room the first thing which is to be noted is that it is bathed in darkness even though the sun has been fully risen for a couple of hours. Turning to the window it becomes clear why, the occupant of the room has kept the blinds closed and has even covered the window with a sheet to keep out any remaining strands of light. The room itself is of an average size, with windows on the south and east facing walls. There is a single bed pressed up against the north wall and a bookshelf and chest of drawers are located on either side of the door we entered through. The walls are covered in faded floral wallpaper which has been on the walls since the day they moved in.

The occupant of the room is sat on the window seat set into the recess of the window on the east facing wall, sat is a slight exaggeration, huddled would probably be a better term. Their knees are drawn up to their chest; their head is covered in a hooded sweatshirt making it impossible to determine sex from our position. The individuals head whips around as they hear something downstairs; there is a look of pure unadulterated fear in their eyes which shines through the gloom that makes it otherwise impossible to see the person's face. Let's turn our attention to what has caused such a reaction in our subject.

"You are sleeping with him aren't you?" A male voice shouts.

"Don't be stupid he is a child!" A female voice shouts back.

"Don't call me stupid you whore, you are the fucking stupid one! I bet that useless thing upstairs will tell me if I ask!" The male voice shouts.

"No! You don't get to-" the female voice starts to respond. Before she can get to the end of her sentence there comes the sound of flesh connecting with flesh followed by the tinkling of breaking china and the collapse of something heavy. Not long after that heavy footfalls can be heard upon the stairs and along the hallway, they come to a halt outside the door; a halt which is quickly followed by the rattling of the doorknob. The rooms occupant jerks further into the corner of the window seat as they watch the handle rattle in the hand of the person on the other side.

"How many times do I have to tell you that there are no locked doors in my house!" The male voice shouts as the sound of his foot against the door reverberates through the room. On the second kick the door gives in and swings back to collide with the bookshelf, dislodging a few volumes. The occupant of the room just watches helplessly as they fall, longing to pick them up but knowing that if they move the man will notice them. He ambles into the room and from his movement it is possible to discern that he is clearly over the legal limit. He is so drunk that upon first glance around the room he completely ignores the figure in the window. The figure breathes a sigh of relief as his gaze sweeps past them, that is the figures first and only mistake of the day though as the man focuses directly upon the sound. He allows a second or two for his vision to focus correctly before he walks over to the occupant.

"Is that slag sleeping with Chris?" He shouts, sending spit flying into the figures face. They stare blankly at him and refuse to answer knowing from experience that any answer they give is going to be wrong.

"Answer me you pathetic, little twat!" The man shouts getting angrier, he reaches out his hand and wraps his fingers around the figures arm and wrenches hard dislodging them from their perch and sends them flying across the room and into their bed. The individual smacks their head on the wooden leg of the bed, we notice that the hood has slipped slightly and it is possible to see that the figure is that of a girl, no more than eighteen. The girl slowly sits up and although the connection must have hurt she refuses to allow any sign of pain cross her features, she pulls her hood back over her head as the man moves to lift her up.

"What, are you not going to fight this time?" The man asks as he lifts the girl easily by her shoulders and throws her bodily into the wall. The girl begins to slide to the floor only to be stopped by the man; he places one of his large hands around her throat and lifts her so that he is holding her up so her eyes are level with his own.

"You think I don't see the hate and loathing in your eyes every time you look at me?" He whispers, his face so close to the girls that she can smell the alcohol on his breath. His eyes search out hers and hold them a moment before he speaks again. "Where do you think you would be without me? You would be nobody! I could kill you, did you know that? I could kill you and nobody would care. You have no friends, thanks to me." He whispers and despite her best efforts the pained look on the girls face gives away the fact that she knows he is telling the truth.

The man is so focused on the girl who is slowly turning blue in front of him that he fails to notice the figure creeping silently up behind him until the wooden baseball bat connects with the back of his head. The woman wielding the weapon is in her late thirties, of slight build with long blonde hair, she instantly drops the bat as the man collapses to the floor releasing the girl and allowing her to take enough breaths so that we no longer have to worry about her immediate death.

"Are you okay honey?" The woman asks quietly as she moves to the girls side.

"Are you?" The girl asks as she shakily points out the bruise and the gash on the woman's face. The woman gingerly reaches up and places two fingers against the stickiness of the blood which has begun to slide down her cheek.

"I'll be fine," the woman says as she attempts to smile. "Seriously how are you?" She asks again as she reaches over and slides down the girl's hood in order to see the truth on her face as she speaks.

"Okay I guess," the girl answers quietly as she massages her throat gently.

"I am so sorry baby, is there any way you can forgive me?" The woman asks as she slides one of her small hands through the girls now revealed brown hair.

"It's not your fault mom," the girl responds.

"It is, but let's talk about it later. Now I want you to pack only what you need we are leaving. I'll give you five minutes then I want you in the car." The mother and daughter rise together, the elder picks up the bat and begins to leave the room with it before obviously deciding better. "I'll leave this with you, just in case." She explains as she lays it down on the dresser before walking out the room. The girl springs instantly into action, sliding slowly past the unconscious man she reaches under her bed and pulls out a bag into which she throws all her clothes and everything essential. Walking over to her bookshelf she reaches for her copy of _The Tenant of Wildfell Hall_ that her father had bought her the year he died. Glancing once more around her room she notices the picture of her father on her bedside table, knowing she is already pushing her mother's time limit she quickly dashes to grab the picture before moving out of the room and down the stairs. When she reaches the bottom step her mom appears out of the kitchen wearing a pair of sunglasses in a vain attempt to hide the bruise around her left eye.

"You ready to go?" She asks, in answer the girl raises her bag and glances back up the stairs half expecting to see the man stood there. "Then let's go," the woman picks up her own bag from beside the door and leads the girl out and to a car parked on the road in front of the house. The pair moves directly to the Volvo and throw the bags quickly in the boot before rushing to the front seats and climbing in.

"What if he tries to follow?" The girl asks as she pulls her seatbelt across her body.

"He'll have a job with the slashes in his tyres, I figured it was the least I could do." The girl forces a smile, a smile which falters as soon as she sees the man come wandering aimlessly out of the front door. The woman doesn't wait two seconds as she jams her key into the ignition, starts the engine and roars away leaving the man staring after the pair.

"Where are we going to go mom? I start college soon." The girl states quietly as she stares out of her window watching as the houses of her former friends slide quietly by.

"That's where we are going; thankfully he doesn't know where you are going so we should be safe for a while. I promise to make it up to you baby, I will make everything right again." The woman says just as quietly as they depart the town they both loved dearly. The girl doesn't answer just continues to stare blankly out of the window leaving her mother to wonder just how much damage had been caused to her pride and joy. Little did the woman know but her daughter was wondering the same thing, the only difference was that everything the woman did from now on would be for the benefit of her daughter. Everything would be about making up for the years of terror that had definitely damaged her daughters psyche, everything would be about the best thing in her life, the only thing she had worth living for.

* * *

Let me know what you think, some of this is taken from experience and some I thankfully haven't had to live through. i'll leave you all to guess as to who the unlucky victim or victims are, but you might be surprised.

I know I have been away for a while, so for the minute I am going to have to reread my other story in order to remember how it is going to go. I had a few chapters written before my computer became attracted to my radiator and decided to break. Hence why I have been away for so long, but I am back now with new story ideas in tow as well.

Until next time XD


	2. Apathetic Way To Be

You all laugh at me  
Like I'm not happy  
With anything, any time, anywhere  
And the half of me's all about apathy  
And the other half just doesn't care

Yeah, bein' apathetic's a pathetic way to be  
(I don't care)  
What matters to you does not matter to me  
('cause I don't care)

Apathetic Way To Be – Relient K

* * *

I remember the day my mom and I left Charles with a clarity that defies logic. I say that it defies logic because I can recall everything about that day clearly except the point at which his fingers closed around my throat and began cutting off my air supply. I am fairly certain, that I saw my father in that moment before what could easily have been my death but other than that I have no memory of what happened. According to my mom she had only just managed to get to me before Charles went too far, I imagine I would be in a grave right now if it hadn't been for my mom.

"Miss Platt, are you paying attention?" comes a slightly annoyed voice from the front of the room, drawing me out of the thoughts which had absorbed my mind five minutes ago.

"Miss Platt, I asked you a question!" The voice states and I grimace, barely suppressing a flinch as I detect the undertones of anger in his voice. My reaction may seem overkill to you but given my past I think it is highly justifiable.

"Yes," I mumble in answer as I pull the hood of my jacket further up onto my head. I can sense the rest of the room staring at me as I try to blend into the red plastic seat I am currently sat on in a crowded lecture hall. I turn my head slightly to the right and meet two sets of eyes; one set of the brightest emerald green the other of soulful chocolate brown. The pair these eyes belong to never pry into my business; I know they are intrigued by me, everyone in this room is, but these two don't question anything about me, they just accept that I am the way that I am. I am quiet, reserved and for all intents and purposes a loner; I speak only when I am spoken to, arrive for class before everyone else and leave after they have all dispersed. The owner of the warm brown eyes smiles softly and somewhat apologetically at me before elbowing her companion and turning away from me. I feel all the other gazes of people in the room slowly move away from me and return to the front of the room as our lecture continues. I breathe a sigh of relief and continue to take notes as a feeling of contentment rises up inside me; I finally feel as though I have achieved my goal and managed to disappear into the furniture. Once class ends I slowly pack up my laptop and books knowing exactly how long to take in order to ensure that I am completely alone when I look up.

"Hi," I hear a female voice say quietly from beside me. I look up confused and shocked that one I am not alone, and two someone is actually talking to me and not about me. I turn completely to the voice and see that it is the brown eyed girl from earlier. I scan the room quickly and notice that her green eyed companion is nowhere to be seen.

"Hi," I return her simple greeting as I slide my bag off the desk and onto my shoulder. It smacks against my thigh and the resounding thump fills the room, I watch as a smile begins to grace the face of the intruder to my solitude. I take in her face and realise that she is beautiful, not Hollywood beautiful but classically beautiful, like a movie star from the forties or fifties. She has big brown eyes, long mahogany coloured hair which actually makes me pine for my own brown hair. My hair had been the first thing to go as soon as my mom and I reached California, where I had been accepted to Berkeley to study Law. Her skin was ever so slightly tanned, the shade someone goes when they are raised somewhere that has very little sun but moves somewhere with an inordinate amount of sun.

"I'm Isabella, but everyone just calls me Bella." She says pulling me out of my thoughts, she holds out a hand for me to shake. Instead of breaching the gap between us I look down at her hand before returning my quizzical gaze to her face. She keeps her hand out for a moment or two longer before moving it back to her side awkwardly. I watch as she appears to deflate at my apparent lack of knowledge towards social nuances. In truth social skills have nothing to do with it; I just don't really like personal contact, I like my personal space unbroken.

"Okay, well I have to go," I say without offering her my own name as I move to walk past her.

"Hold on a second," she says softly as I head down the stairs. I pause on the stairs at her tone more than her words, she almost sounds as if she is pleading with me. "My friend and I are going for coffee and I wondered if you wanted to join us." I turn to look at her completely thrown by her words; I stare at her uncomprehendingly as I try to understand the intent behind the invitation.

"Excuse me?" I ask after a moment.

"It's just I have noticed that you don't really associate with anyone and I thought you looked lonely. If you don't want to come that's fine," she says quickly by way of explanation. I smile ever so slightly as I realise that I could truly be friends with Bella. From this one encounter I can tell that she is caring and despite the fact that I completely ignored her attempt at a hand shake she still had the courage to invite me for coffee.

"Thanks for the offer Bella, but I have somewhere I need to be." I answer now smiling sadly. I know I could be friends with her but I refuse to let myself cross that chasm within my psyche. I had friends once, back home in North Carolina but they had all essentially abandoned me when Charles began his reign of terror. It wasn't all their fault, a lot of it was mine, Charles had made me feel as though I wasn't worthy of friends, as though I was insignificant and someone who didn't deserve friends. I still feel that way now, which is why Bella and I would never be friends.

"Okay, well the offer is there if you want to come anytime in the future." Bella says smiling again as I turn away from her and walk to the door of the lecture hall. I stop as I push the door open, I take a deep breath and swallow the nausea I feel rising at what I am about to do.

"Alice," is all I say loud enough for her to hear.

"I'm sorry?" She calls back.

"My name, it's Alice."

"In that case, it's nice to meet you Alice." I can almost hear the smile in her voice and it causes a smile to rise of its own accord upon my face. I walk out of the room and down the corridor. I head straight for the stairs knowing Bella is likely to get the lift down and I don't want to give her any more information about me than she already knows, which is just my name. A name however can be a dangerous thing; it can be used to discover more about you than you actually want people to find. It can also be used to find you, which is why my mom and I currently existed under different names. She had started divorce proceedings when we reached a small town in Texas and told the lawyer to send anything she needed to sign to a PO box in Los Angeles. If her husband was ever to contact him and ask where she was he was to deny knowledge of our residence, which shouldn't be too hard because he really didn't know where we were. With a sigh I continue down the stairs and head out of the door and turning towards the apartment where I live with my mom, safe from Charles for the moment.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the reveal on the girl, I think I made the right choice with Alice. She was the one I could picture being in this sort of situation especially as I do get fed up of reading stories about Bella in these situations. I did toy with Rose for a while but Alice was definitely the better option.

I want to thank everyone who reviewed, I'm not sure when the next update will be as I just got promoted at work and am working crazy hours now but I'll try. I will state now that I am not rushing any chapters as I want them to be perfect and lead to the ending I wish I could work out for myself.

Keep reading and reviewing XD


	3. Because Of You

Because of you  
I never stray too far from the sidewalk  
Because of you  
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you  
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me  
Because of you  
I am afraid

Kelly Clarkson - Because Of You

* * *

"Mom?" I call out as I enter the apartment we have shared for a little over nine months.

"In here honey," she calls out from the lounge and I move straight for the sound. "How were your classes today?" She asks as I sit down next to her on the couch and place my bag beside my feet.

"Okay, one of the girls spoke to me." I answer nonchalantly as I look over her work strewn across the floor.

"What did she say?" My mom asks and I can hear the tension in her voice as she speaks the words. I know that even now she still fears that Charles will somehow find us, that everything we have done will be for naught. I won't ever admit it to her but I fear the same thing, although I believe it is an almost certainty. We won't be able to hide forever but I will not let him destroy my life again.

"She asked me to go for coffee with her and a friend." I respond, shrugging my shoulders as if it is nothing. I watch the smile creep up my mom's face making her appear ten years younger, the smile combined with her newly dyed auburn hair makes her indistinguishable from the woman I lived with but a few months ago. It had taken me three months of living in California to convince her that the new colour would suit her and that it was best for us.

"That's nice, why didn't you go?" She asks still smiling gently at me.

"You look beautiful when you smile, especially with your new hair colour." I smirk at her as I dodge her question, not because I don't want to answer it but because I don't know how to answer it.

"I'm still getting used to it, but at least it wasn't as dramatic as what you did to yours. I do miss your brown," she speaks forlornly as she runs a hand through my drastically shorter, black hair. It has grown out from how it was initially cut when we arrived in California, it was a day I will always remember as my first truly joyous moment in many years.

"I do too sometimes, but then I remember why I did what I did. Does it still make you think of Aunt Kate?" I ask quietly and I watch as the smile on my mom's face softens at the mention of her sister in law.

"Yes, but I am used to the fact that you are the spitting image of her. I am proud you look like her, she was an amazing person and if you are half as good as her you are better than most people. Now back to my original question which you may think I have forgotten but I haven't. So what did you say to the girl who asked you to go for a coffee?"

"I told her I had somewhere I needed to be." I state bluntly as I move my gaze from the disappointment in my mom's eyes to the sheets of paper strewn across the floor.

"Why Ali? You have nowhere to be and nothing to do but study." She speaks softly, reaching out to grab my chin and draw my gaze back to hers. "I worry about you baby, all you do is go to school and come home. Maybe you should speak to someone…" She trails off when she sees the look of defiance in my eyes.

"I'm not going to see a shrink mom, we discussed this when we first left. I don't want to talk about it to anyone; I will get past this myself. What's with all the paper?"

"Nice segue, my company won the contract to design the new Cullen Enterprises building in San Diego. I get to do the interior aspect, but I'm struggling with the colour scheme for the foyer." She explains as she points to a floor plan and one of the many concept drawings she has done.

"I like the black and white one." I say, indicating one of the images. "Monochrome is always good, it looks professional."

"Yes, I agree but don't you think it needs a splash of colour so it looks slightly less corporate?"

"What about red?" I suggest.

"That could work; I'll work it out later. Are you sure you don't want to go into design? I could get you a job with my company." My mom jokes as she nudges my shoulder with hers. I chuckle lightly as I return the gesture.

"Sorry to let you down mom but I am going to be a lawyer, like dad." I have wanted to be a lawyer since my dad died; it seems like a good way to pay tribute to him. Unlike my dad though I wasn't going to be a corporate lawyer, I was going to be a lawyer for the abused and battered men and women out there. I was going to help them get their lives back, more than that though I was going to help the children affected. Children like me.

"Ah well it was worth a shot babe. Now what do you fancy for dinner?"

"I'm not fussed, I'm going to go and study anyway." I stand and reach down to pick up my bag.

"Ali," my mom calls as I walk towards the doorway.

"Yeah mom," I answer as I turn to look at her.

"I love you, you know that right?"

"I love you too." I answer slightly confused.

"I know, if I say something will you promise to think about it?" She says as she rises and moves to stand directly in front of me.

"I promise."

"Go out for coffee with this girl and her friend. Despite what Charles beat into you, you do deserve friend's baby. You are the sweetest, most thoughtful person I have ever met barring your Aunt Kate and I don't want you to end up alone because one person made you feel worthless." She reaches out and cups my left cheek in her palm as she speaks, when she says his name I shudder involuntarily and remember every beating or abusive comment he directed at me over the years.

"I'll think about it," my mom smiles at my words so I hasten to finish what I intended to say. "But that doesn't mean I will go out with them."

"I know, but I would love it if you did. You never know you might actually like them. Now go study while I get something sorted for dinner." She turns me bodily so that I am facing the hallway before she pushes me towards my room. I walk towards it thinking over her words and wondering how much truth may be in them and how much was just her wanting to make up for how screwed up my life was at one point.

* * *

In the house where our story began a man paces a room just off the entrance hall downstairs, walking through the door we can take note of a number of things in the room. The walls are painted an off white colour; the floor is wooden and stained a dark brown. The couch against the wall behind the door is a brown leather affair, with a matching recliner in the corner opposite to the black, flat screen television. Above the fireplace there is a mantel with a number of pictures on it, pictures of a blonde haired woman and her brunette haired daughter.

"James, I need you to find the bitch and her daughter!" The man shouts into the phone which is pressed against his ear, he glares at one of the pictures on the mantelpiece as he walks past it. He listens to what the man has to say on the other end of the line, unfortunately we are unable to know what is said but it causes Charles to stop dead before swinging back around and walking over to the mantelpiece.

"The woman is too stupid to even think of something like that." He whispers menacingly into the phone as he picks up one of the pictures and grips it in his hand with enough pressure that the frame begins to crack. "I don't care how much it costs James; you are the best PI in the state as well as my friend find the bitch so I can make her pay!" He listens silently again to the man on the other end of the phone.

"I don't have to tell you what I am going to do! She is my wife, she has to obey me, fucking off with her twat of a daughter is not obeying me! She was not to leave the house, she knew that!" He shouts into the phone before throwing the picture in his hand against the wall. One of the sides of the frame hits the wall first causing it to crack into a number of pieces before scattering along the floor. The glass follows the frame in hitting the wall and shatters into a thousand pieces before it too scatters all along the floor. The picture flutters to the ground landing upside down so that the man can no longer see the two women staring out at him.

"You don't need to know what that sound was, just find her!" He hangs up the phone before his friend has a chance to answer. The phone follows the picture into the wall where the battery proceeds to dislodge itself from the body before dropping to the floor and landing on top of the picture and the glass. The man groans angrily before walking quickly over to the phone and rebuilding it, his hands shaking with anger as he tries to slam the battery into place. Once he has succeeded in putting the battery in and turning the phone on he slides it into the pocket of his jeans and picks up the picture, staring at it he turns to face the window.

"How did you manage it?" He asks aloud of the picture before gripping it in both hands and tearing it in half. Once in half he proceeds to rip it into quarters and then eights before tossing it into the fireplace where he watches it burn to ashes planning what he is going to do to his errant wife when he finds her.

* * *

**Sorry it has been so long, I actually had this written many moons ago but due to an increase in work hours and me going for a promotion I have been too tired to even think about logging onto my computer and uploading it.**

**I hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter is partially written and I will finish it as soon as possible which hopefully will not be as long as this one took to get uploaded.**


	4. She's A Mystery

She's a mystery  
There's no defense  
It's innocence  
But she won't let you see  
'Cause she's a mystery

**Bon Jovi - She's A Mystery**

* * *

Two Weeks Later.

A man stands behind the desk in the library at the University of Berkeley. He has stood in the same place every Monday and Friday for a month from three in the afternoon until seven; an hour after the library closes. Today however he is standing there at one having had to start his shift early, therefore it is the first day that he has seen the quiet girl who always sits in the library alone during lunch every day. Not that the man would know this of course, for all he knows she is finishing up an assignment she has left until the last minute. Despite knowing nothing about the girl or maybe because of it he finds himself intrigued; he watches intently as she pushes a stray lock of her black hair behind her right ear. He watches as she flicks a page in her text book whilst sucking on the end of her pen. He watches as the girl's head turns slightly as though she can feel his intense gaze on her, he quickly returns his attention to his own book smirking slightly as he waits for her attention to return to her work.

"Jasper!" Someone calls from the doorway to the library causing everyone in the room to look up from their work, everyone except the girl who continues to study. The man behind the desk sighs heavily as he closes his book, recognising the voice which calls to him.

"What do you want?" The man who goes by Jasper asks resignedly when the intruder finally reaches the desk, his face forming a mask which clearly already suspects where this conversation is going to go.

"Uncle C wants to talk to you." The bronze-haired boy states from in front of the desk as he places his hands flat on top of it, leaning slightly towards the man.

"I can't, I'm working. Tell him I'll phone him later." Jasper says turning to watch a brunette walk up to the girl he had been watching earlier.

"You can't avoid your dad forever; he just wants what's best for you."

"No Ed, he doesn't. He wants me to be like him, but I'm not. I'm not meant to be the head of a corporation. I'm meant to be in a classroom or lecture theatre teaching young people about the civil war." Jasper says passionately as he turns to his cousin and releases a heavy, stress laden sigh before he returns his gaze to the two girls.

"Maybe you should explain that to Uncle C, he would understand." Ed responds, following his cousins gaze to see what has caught his attention. "Jazz, could you stop staring at my girlfriend like that it's kind of disconcerting."

"Like I would ever stand a chance with Bella, everyone knows she only has eyes for you." Jasper smiles as he watches Ed smirk at the words. "Anyway who said I was staring at Bella?"

"Oh, so you were staring at Alice."

"Who?"

"Alice, the girl Bella is talking to. She's in our ethics class and another couple of Bella's but I never remember which ones. Anyway, she always sits on her own and never talks to anyone. The rest of our class think she's weird but Bella thinks she's segregated herself for another reason." The bronze haired man explains smiling at the look of confusion in his cousin's bright blue eyes.

"What do you mean Edward?" Jasper asks as he turns to look at his best friend's jewel green eyes as he answers, knowing he will be able to see the truth in them."I'm not sure, but Bella thinks she has been through something. I have told Bella not to pry but she is determined to find out what's going with the girl if it's the last thing she does."

"Hmm…"Jasper trails off as he switches his gaze to Bella. Looking up from her conversation with Alice she sees Jasper and smiles brightly before Alice speaks quietly drawing Bella's attention back to her. "Bella is an amazing girl, you're lucky man."

"I know; she is far too good for me." Edward states quietly as he stares at Bella from across the room. The two men fall into a companionable silence as they wonder what the girls are discussing.

* * *

"Hey Alice, how are you today?" Bella asks me as she slides onto the desk beside me. I turn slightly from my work and smile politely up at her.

"Not too bad and yourself?" I inquire as I turn back to my book. Ever since Bella first spoke to me two weeks ago she has not stopped trying to get me to go for coffee with her and Edward. Edward, I have since learned is Bella's green eyed, bronze haired boyfriend. The boy is absolutely gorgeous; if I wasn't so sworn against the idea of dating I would be jealous. Despite never taking her up on the offer of coffee Bella and I had become sort of friends, even if I do keep her at arm's length.

"I'm good. Are you working on the assignment for tomorrow?" Bella asks as she leans over to read my notes.

"Nope, I have already finished it. This is research for the assignment due in three weeks." I explain as I point out the question at the top of my note covered page.

"Wow, you are majorly organised. I haven't even thought about that essay yet." Bella says as she laughs quietly to herself before she looks up from my notes and glances over my shoulder. I watch as she waves to someone behind me, I turn slightly and notice that Edward is stood talking to a tall blond man. I take note that he is the same blond man who has been watching me since I sat down here at one.

"Bella," I say quietly bringing her attention back to me.

"Yeah," she responds tearing her gaze away from Edward and the blond.

"Who's the blond he has been staring at me for about an hour."

"Oh, that's Jasper. He is Edward's cousin, two years older than us, studying history. His dad is some kind of business man or something. He is single but not through lack of choices, he is extremely picky about the girls he dates." Bella explains, giving me far more information than I actually require.

"So he isn't going to jump me when I leave the library?" I ask fear lacing my tones even as I try to conceal it.

"Of course not. Why would you think that?" She asks questioningly.

"Nothing, no reason. Shall we go?" I say as I stand, throwing my books into my bag and walking off to the door. I leave Bella stood behind me, I smile slightly as I hear her feet slapping on the polished floor as she runs to catch up to me.

"You can talk to me Alice…confidentially I mean." Bella whispers slightly out of breath when she catches up to me. I walk quietly towards the elevator Bella at my side, thoughts rage furiously through my head as I fight with myself over what I should keep to myself and what I should share. Something must have shown on my face because as the elevator doors shut with a ping and a snap Bella turns to me and plants her hands on her waist in a stance which makes her look slightly like a super hero. I almost laugh out loud at the comparison but stop just short when I see the look in her eyes.

"I'm fine Bella," I try to cut off what I sense is coming.

"No Alice you're not. You haven't been fine since the day you started college, everyone else thinks you're strange but I think you are something else."

"What's that then Isabella?"

"I think you're scared. Of who or what I don't know but you are scared of something." Bella states dumbfounding me as the doors to the elevator open on our floor. My body refuses to co-operate even as my mind screams at me to walk out of the small box, I watch as Bella walks out before she turns back to me.

"Ali, are you okay?" She asks concerned as she moves back into the box, wrapping an arm around my shoulder she guides me out of the elevator. I am still too shocked by her words to recoil at the close proximity. It's not until she has sat me down that I realise I haven't spoken for over ten minutes.

"How did you know?" My voice is so low that even I struggle to hear it and I hope that she doesn't hear the words.

"Just a guess, so why are you scared?" Bella asks destroying my hope that she hasn't heard my words.

"Let's just say that I haven't had an easy life. Until seven months ago my life was completely different from this." I place my bag on the desk and start to take out my books, acting as though what I just said was nothing out of the ordinary. I can hear a voice inside me screaming at me to shut up but for some reason I choose to ignore this voice.

"Alice, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you can't change the past. Let's just drop this please?" I all but beg of the brown haired girl sat next to me. She sighs heavily before inclining her head in what I take to be an acceptance of my request. "Thank you." I smile slightly as the rest of our class begin to make their way into the room.

* * *

**It has been longer than I thought, I had this written about three weeks ago but I got busy at work lol. Anyway the next chapter will be up as soon as possible, until then I hope you enjoy this one.**

**I am working on a one shot which will be pure unadulterated happy times. It will be light hearted, happy go lucky, lovey dovey. Every single cliché you can come up with!**


End file.
